Through the Years: Quick long TD pass lifted Valley past Knoch in 1981

By: George Guido
Thursday, October 14, 2021 | 10:48 AM

Each week throughout the high school football season, the Valley News Dispatch will take a look back at the games, players and events that are part of local scholastic history.

Mike White passed 73 yards on the first play of the game to Frank Campbell, setting up an 18-8 Valley victory over Knoch before a sellout crowd in Saxonburg on Oct. 19, 1981.

75 years ago

• Night football came to Vandergrift as a record crowd jammed Davis Field to watch the Blue Lancers turn back Penn High (later to be known as Penn Hills), 19-0. Lights were installed in order to accommodate a minor-league pro baseball team the following year.

• Following a 10-year hiatus, St. Joseph resumed football with a 26-6 loss to Avonmore.

60 years ago

• Tarentum’s defense held Leechburg to three first downs and 27 rushing yards in a 20-7 victory. Ken Wyson scored two touchdowns and Harvey Kemp one for the Redcats.

• Springdale shut out winless Freeport, 20-0, behind touchdowns from Ray Spolar, Carl Hepler and Mickey Liberati.

50 years ago

• Mike Westerman hit on 12 of 15 passes, and Ray Zema and Frank Trefelner scored two TDs each as Freeport blasted Kittanning, 51-0. The Yellowjackets defense forced five fumbles and recorded two interceptions.

• Valley set a school scoring mark by clobbering Derry, 52-8. Dan Hawkins scored three TDs, and John McCloud, now the coach at Summit Academy, added another score.

40 years ago

• Kittanning’s Mike Kunselman scored two touchdowns, and Mitch Frerotte caught Jamie Shaul’s only pass of the day for a score as the Wildcats defeated North Catholic, 28-7.

25 years ago

• Riverview clinched its third straight Eastern Conference title with a 30-0 win over Greensburg Central Catholic. Fritz Tamburro ran for two TDs, and Ben Erdeljac returned a punt 68 yards for a TD.

• Highlands downed Burrell, 27-13, behind two Mark Corbett touchdowns. The game was delayed one night because the officials were stuck in traffic on Route 28 after a series of weather-related crashes.

10 years ago

• Springdale’s Sean Dugan rushed for 132 yards and four touchdowns on 19 carries as the Dynamos battered Wilkinsburg, 43-6.

• Knoch set a school scoring record in a 70-14 rout over Kittanning. Andrew Rumburg-Goodlin ran for 231 yards and five touchdowns on just nine attempts.

Five years ago

• Valley turned back Burrell, 38-20, as Chase Balla and Deonte Ross scored a pair of TDs each.

• Fox Chapel won its third straight game in the newly created Class 5A Allegheny 9 Conference by defeating Baldwin, 35-14.

Tags: Burrell, Fox Chapel, Freeport, Highlands, Knoch, Leechburg, Riverview, Springdale, St. Joseph, Valley